Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - 12/19/2022

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As usual, our class was so fun!

Jo Ann, Dan, Ruth, Steve, David, Dave, Robin, Randy, Norky, Jay, Merill, and Karen (who had Zoom connection problems) attended.

Below is a summary written by Dan about what we discussed and learned:

We read Revelation chapter 7 and 8 and the grey box in the Jewish Annotated New Testament associated with chapter 7.

The heavenly temple cult:  Not the Moonies or Charles Manson but what is going on as life on earth, according to John of Patmos, gets extremely dicey. A whole bunch of martyrs are revealed, as well as the famous 144,000 Jews who are sealed dramatically for some purpose. Then the 7th seal is broken and all kinds of death and destruction on earth break loose.

We at the study have polite Hanukkah conversation. The action in Revelation, however borrows scenes from another Jewish holiday, Pesach. As we enjoy a cozy Hanukkah, our story in Revelation is a Cup of Plagues.

Additions from Jo Ann:

It was wonderful to end our discussion with singing the Misheberach Jewish healing prayer and being on key thanks to Randy getting a beautiful version of it played by Temple Israel congregant Sheri on the piano. 

Merill asked what Chanukah is about and we explained it to him.  Jo Ann told the story of the ice rink who only had enough propane for two days, but it needed to last for five in order to run the Zamboni ice cleaning machine.  Sounds like Chanukah…correct?   David gave us all sorts of historical information on the history of the temple in Jerusalem and early Christian history.

Randy mentioned if someone wrote a story like what is in Revelation today, not as fiction, but fact, they’d be considered somewhat disturbed.   

We also talked about Rabbi Moskowitz’s Torah study which many in our group really like attending via Zoom.  We talked about how how wonderful Temple Israel is!

If anything is missing from this summary, please add your input by hitting the comment box.

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